Student Number : 0313728F -
MSc research report -
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering -
Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment

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dc.description.abstract

Human activity is characterised by the use of energy and materials to produce goods
and services with wastes as by products. Population growth and development has
increased the requirement of materials and energy which means more wastes.
Industrial development has lead to a faster conversion of material and energy which
means even more wastes. This has caused significant negative environmental impacts
that are threatening natural resources and ecological balance from which the required
materials are obtained. Developing countries are faced with the difficulty of balancing
economic development and environmental protection. A development programme that
is based on prioritising economic development at the expense of the environment is
not sustainable.
The main objective of this research is to investigate the potential of using industrial
ecology principles to address the environmental problems of developing countries.
This is done by using a case study of Matsapha Industrial Estate in Swaziland. The
term industrial ecology is derived from an analogy to biological ecosystems, in which
waste from one organism is food to another making the system sustainable because of
the closed waste loop. Braden Allenby (1992) defines industrial ecology as:
“Industrial Ecology may be defines as the means by which a state of sustainable
development is approached and maintained. It consists of a systems view of human
economic activity and its interrelationship with fundamental biological, chemical and
physical systems with the goal of establishing and maintaining the human species at
levels that can be sustained indefinitely, given continued economic, cultural and
technological evolution”.
Using a cross sectional data set, appropriate environmental performance indicators of
the case study area were determined. Three broad categories of environmental
performance indicators are used. These are:
- Resource Use
- Emissions
- Management of Community Interactions
The investigation of the opportunities of using industrial ecology principles in the
case study area is done by setting up scenarios where the principles are applied. The
results are then compared with established environmental performance indicators. The
industrial ecology principles considered are:
- Systems Approach
- Industrial Symbiosis
- Industrial metabolism
- Integrated Approach
- Diversity or Flexibility
- Shared resources
Of the six, five were applied. Industrial metabolism was not applied because of the
scope of the research.
The research indicates that the use industrial ecology principles do improve the
environmental performance of the case study with some economic benefits.
The research also revealed that industrial ecology improves the interaction between
the three components of industrial ecosystems i.e. the industrial activity, the social
and the ecological or environmental component thus establishing the foundation for
sustainable development. It is also revealed that industrial ecology provides the means
of moving towards closing the waste loop in a way that recognises the importance of
balancing the economic objectives of industrial activities and the environmental
objectives of the public sector as well as the social responsibility of both the industrial
and public sector.
The research recommends that industrial ecology principles be used to address the
environmental problems of the case study area because of the many benefits that
would be realised particularly the achievement of both economic and environmental
objectives.
The main recommendations of the research for the case study area are:
- Identification of the Industrial Estate Manager. The recommended industrial
estate manager in the case study area is the existing Matsapha Town Board. It
is therefore not an individual but an institution. This institution would be the
organising force that will facilitate and coordinate the interaction between the
three components of the eco-industrial system.
- Resource Recovery in the form of recycling be the eco-industrial theme
because of the absence of an anchor industry.
- Further research focused on industrial metabolism and use of various wastes
as inputs for other industries

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dc.subject

industrial ecology

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dc.subject

environmental management

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dc.title

Opportunities for the use of industrial ecology principles for environmental management in developing countries: A case study of Matsapha Industrial Estate in Swaziland